The amendment will update the state constitution to recognize that “Every person has a right to a clean and healthy environment….”, that the State has a duty to serve as trustee of the state’s natural resources, and must conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all people.

For decades, the people of New Jersey have relied on federal and state legislation to protect their natural resources. And for decades, the laws have let them down. New Jersey water, air, forests, and other special places from the highlands to the pinelands have been allowed to degrade in ways that are harming people’s lives. Consider this:

New Jersey’s natural resources have been calculated to provide on the order of $20 billion a year of economic value in the form of natural goods (such as food or products used for pharmaceuticals) and services (the flood storage or waste assimilation) they continue to be at severe risk.